Ceres-1
OperationalGalactic Energy · China · First flight 2020
China's leading commercial small launch vehicle from Galactic Energy. One of the first privately developed Chinese rockets to reach orbit. Provides cost-effective dedicated small-sat access to SSO.
Launch price
~$5M
~$12,500/kg to LEO
Payload to LEO
400 kg
Career record
91.3%
21/23 successful · as of 2026-09-01
Next launch
None scheduled
Want to choose exactly what you get? Build your own launch alert, free with an account: GO, liftoff, success, partial failure or failure, time changes, holds and scrubs, and reminders a day, an hour and ten minutes (push) before launches with an exact time, filtered by rocket, launch site, provider, crewed flights or Moon missions.
Subscribe in your calendar (every Ceres-1 launch): Apple or OutlookGoogleDownload .icsCalendar entries move when launch times move. A launch known only to the month appears once it has a day.
More launch calendarsLaunch activity, live
From SpaceNexus's launch tracker (tracked since Jan 20, 2025); outcomes recorded as each flight lands. Career totals above are the vehicle's full history.
Last 90 days
0
launches flown
Tracked flights
5
4 success · 0 partial · 1 failed
Tracked success rate
80%
full successes / attempts; partial failures are not successes
On the manifest
0
upcoming launches
Recent
Specifications
| Height | 20 m |
| Diameter | 1.4 m |
| Liftoff mass | 33,000 kg |
| Stages | 4 |
| Engines | 4x solid stages + liquid kick stage |
| Propellant | Solid (HTPB) + Liquid kick |
| Fairing diameter | 1.4 m |
| Payload to LEO | 400 kg |
| Payload to GTO | – |
| Payload to SSO | 230 kg |
| Payload to TLI | – |
| Reusable | No |
| First flight | 2020-11-07 |
| Last flight | Active |
| Variants seen on the manifest | Ceres-1 |
Where it launches from
Frequently asked
How much does a Ceres-1 launch cost?
A dedicated Ceres-1 launch lists at roughly $5 million, about $12,500 per kilogram to low Earth orbit at full payload. Actual contract prices vary with orbit, integration and government requirements.
When is the next Ceres-1 launch?
No Ceres-1 launch is currently on the tracked manifest.
How reliable is Ceres-1?
Ceres-1 has flown 23 times as of 2026-09-01, with 21 successes, 2 failures and 0 partial failures: a 91.3% success rate, with 2 consecutive successes at last count.
How much can Ceres-1 carry?
400 kg to low Earth orbit, 230 kg to sun-synchronous orbit.